My conservative readers would be proud: I did, in fact, make a crack about his teleprompters
Since some of you were asking me about it: yes, I did get to see President Obama Thursday night inside Sony Studio’s cavernous stage 30 in Culver City.
So what was it like to see the man who won 48% of Santa Clarita’s vote? Well keep in mind it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a President in person (Reagan skipped out on my uncle’s 1983 graduation at the Air Force Academy; that was the last time I’d come close to the Chief Executive) . So, that said, it was more and less than what I thought it would be. Click read more for more of my penetrating insight and analysis.
Things I liked: Jaime Fox, the emcee for the event, was funny, charismatic and entertaining. You can definitely see why he’s an A lister. Seeing the President’s security detail up close and in person, walking through the crowd, eying everyone suspiciously was just as intimidating as I imagined it to be. President Obama can really deliver a speech and work a crowd. His cadence, pitch, and body language are perfectly in tune with the words on his teleprompter. A man standing near me couldn’t help but grunt an “Mmmmmmm” every time he agreed with something Obama said, which turned out to be a lot. I think I saw one woman raise her hand, as if in a Pentecostal church, after Obama delivered something with impact and emotion. I loved seeing a bunch of reporters from TV networks, newspapers and radio stations all doing their craft. The photographers had some killer hardware that I studied in moments of pain and boredom.
Things I didn’t like: Obama kept us -the Hollywood liberals who work so hard on his behalf to indoctrinate America’s youth- waiting/standing for like 2 hours. Maybe it was the shoes I was wearing but I was physically exhausted afterwards. I didn’t like what came between Jaime Foxx and Obama (some singer from American Idol, and, I know this makes me sound bad, a children’s choir). I don’t especially like the Obama campaign’s phrase for 2012, “I’m in!” I was also hoping for more pomp and circumstance; I expected Hail to the Chief to be played, but then Mike Cruz reminded me it was a campaign stop, not an official Presidential visit. There was no Presidential Seal on the lectern either. Disappointed.
Overall, the speech was pretty damn good. Obama reminded us why we supported him in the first place. He outlined his Administration’s accomplishments since Inauguration, how it had to react to an economy that was hemorrhaging jobs (4 million in the first few months) and how it had stopped a terrible recession from becoming an all-out Depression.
He showed shades of his 2004 Democratic Convention speech (There are no red Americas, there are no blue Americas, there is only the United States of America!) by reminding us not to demonize the other side. At the same time he promised not to let “some folks” kill Social Security, or Medicare, or his new health reform law.
He talked up clean energy and commiserated on gas prices, saying that ultimately, our best path forward is to get off oil as much as possible. As a cycling/alternate transportation geek, I raised my hand, let out an audible “mmmmmmm” and said “Testify.”
On the foreign front, he didn’t say a single word about the continuing quagmire in Afghanistan, nor did he touch on why he and the Euros have started bombing Libya or what our end-goal is there. He found time to joke about the Bulls and Lakers but -and I know many of my readers will be disappointed- didn’t speak of what being born in Kenya was like.
Overall Cruz had the best analysis. He thinks Obama’s 2012 campaign will be modeled after Ronald Reagan’s ’84 campaign, the famous “Morning in America” campaign that reminded Americans how bad things were before Reagan’s first term in office.
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Just as I suspected, what a colossal waste of time, eh Master Blogger Jeffrey. Ha-ha! You would have had much more fun with us at Hart High School…
JOKE ALERT! “He talked up clean energy and commiserated on gas prices, saying that ultimately, our best path forward is to get off oil as much as possible. As a cycling/alternate transportation geek, this got me weepy.” Very humorous, Master Blogger!
As usual Bill you just show your stupidity.
How so, Truther?
Who is this “Hi-May Fox”??? anything like Jamie Foxx?
Glad you enjoyed yourself Jeff. I saw Clinton when he stopped by Arizona State on Halloween of 1996. Talk about a guy who knew how to work a crowd!!! But there is something about being in the presence of the Commander in Chief that is amazing in and of itself, regardless of political lines.
Petz wonders if Jeff had to pay, or whether the union goon comped him. We want full disclosure and transparency.
LOL, you crack me up
Petz would rather pay to see the Charlie Sheen Torpedo of Truth Tour , than to see Obama-whose words mean absolutely nothing.
Amen.
Petz will neither confirm nor deny the formation of his exploratory committee.
Excuse Me! Where are the mad props for Bay Cities Deli! And the presidential motorcade was pretty cool as well…
Petz, Jeff didn’t pay nor did I. Lastly, the unions didn’t pay for our tickets either…
Needless to say, I think it’s pretty cool to see the President of the United States speak…some folks might not like the current occupant, which is fine, but you have to respect the office….
So we are left to believe that you were invited because of your good looks ?
charm, perhaps.
I went to the event and said do you know who Iam?…The person replied no and I said “I am the son of Petz!!!!!!” And with my birthright and name I was given access to the event….
Unions may not have that kind of pull in the future. Times are a changing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/is-massachusetts-the-next-wisconsin/2011/04/28/AFaBR76E_blog.html
From a progressive point of view, President Obama is the “Charlatan in Chief”. He has broken all but one of his promises to the liberal Democrat base who contributed money, spend time drumming up votes, etc. to get him elected. I am pleased to say I didn’t vote for him the first time, and I will not vote for him the second time either. I didn’t like him, starting with the Iowa Caucuses, because as I said to my rabidly Republican brother, he made by b.s. detector go off big time.
The difference in 2012 will be that all 7 other votes in my family, which were for Obama, will be for somebody else or “none of the above” next time.
President Obama outright lied to the young people who voted for him, on key issues like the 2 wars and Guantanamo, fixing what the BLM, Fish & Wildlife Service and EPA were doing wrong on environmental issues.
When you see President Obama making off the cuff comments, rather than a stump speech, you see the real Obama, an elitist egomaniac machine politician. Obama the orator is simply full of b.s. Remember that being elected “Editor in Chief of the Harvard Law Review” is a popularity contest, not based on intellect. And then there’s that year between the end of law school and the first time he shows up working for a law firm, making me wonder if he passed the Bar Exam on his first attempt. (A key test, among lawyers, of who is competent and who is not.) Forget the birth certificate, I want to know his Bar score and why that 1 year gap exists.
I believe the economy would be just as bad if John McCain had been elected President, and the Federal Reserve’s actions would have been the same as well, so as to President Obama’s stump speech full of excuses, he gets a “fail” from me.
Other than getting “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” repealed, President Obama wasted the first two years of his presidency, when Democrats controlled Congress, getting none of his other campaign promises to the liberal Democratic base and to young people accomplished. That’s because President is owned lock, stock and barrel by his corporate contributors, primarily Wall Street, the defense industry and the pharmaceutical industry. When I see Democratic Party hacks and wanna-be’s on MSNBC defending President Obama’s record, I want to barf.
President Carter was kind and well intentioned, even though ineffective. President Obama is far from it. President Obama makes decisions after careful consideration, and then goes off and feeds a load of malarchy to anyone willing to waste the time to see him give a speech.
My list of people I would vote for, next time, are true “populists” like Pat Buchanan, Allan Grayson, Russ Feingold, Bernie Sanders and perhaps even Ron Paul (though having extensively driven through his district I fear Paul’s Congressional campaigns are funded by the big oil and big chemical companies doing business in his district).
I won’t say “Anyone but Obama” because Romney is a flip-flopper and hedge fund alumni (Bain Capital). I wouldn’t trust anyone supported by Karl Rove and I think the rest of the Republican field, so far, are nuts or nazis.
I got a fund raising post card with President Obama’s portrait on it. I can’t decide whether to paste it onto the bottom of our cat’s litter box, or do something more creative with it.
I enjoy sending disapproving messages when I get fund-raising emails from the re-elect Obama campaign operation and the Democratic Party, telling them to “unsubscribe me”. I look forward to somebody, anybody running against him in the Nevada Democratic Caucuses, so that son and daughter-in-law can enjoy speaking out against President Obama in the face of the party faithful aka dullards dazzled by the b.s. like Jeff heard.
The U.S. is simply, royally screwed on a long term basis and President Obama is making things worse every day. Neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party loyal to President Obama are providing any hope or any solutions.
The Bush Family has their “doomsday ranch” in Paraguay, just a Gulf Stream jet’s flight away from Dallas. (No kidding. Jenna and Barbara’s purses were stolen while shopping for furniture for that ranch in Buenos Aires.) Though I hate semi-tropical bugs and snakes, I’m planning a visit.
…uh, your choices for 2012….jaw dropping.
Romney-Gingrich-Palin-Bachmann-Pawlenty-Huckabee-Herman Cain-any of whom could destroy Obama in a debate.
with laughter…
CC I agree with you on the laughter. Of course, as President Obama has shown, being a good orator or good debater is worth squat in terms of properly running the country.
While I might not agree with the entirety of your assessment, I truly appreciate your honest approach to how you view what Obama has done with his administration. You hit a lot of points square on, and give a lot of food for thought for the upcoming election. Thank you for not resorting to calling him a Kenyan-socialist-nazi-muslim-terrorist!
That being said, the competition for the 2012 presidential race still leaves much to be desired. It would be good to have a real Republican contender to give a run for Obama’s money who is not tied to religious ideology or Tea Party rhetoric, and can run as a true party candidate with real ideas. Not to say that I would necessarily vote for that candidate, but I would like to see someone really give a run for the money to keep things interesting.
Pat Buchanan is the only one in the Republican Party who could bury President Obama intellectually, with honor. The problem with Newt Gingrich is that he has no honor, having cheated on Wife #1 while she was in cancer treatment, and having cheated on Wife #2 while being Majority Leader. All the rest of the Republican field are intellectual light weights, other than Ron Paul who I love even though he’s a bit “out there” (e.g. wanting to abolish the IRS).
“President Obama wasted the first two years of his presidency, when Democrats controlled Congress, getting none of his other campaign promises to the liberal Democratic base and to young people accomplished.”
Eh they never had a super majority and it’s hard to get something passed when the other side is united in saying no to everything. I believe it was a record number in fact.
He spent all his time and political clout on a health care plan that could eventually be the thing that could cost him the 2012 election.
Jayce: They never had a “Super Majority” in the Senate because Harry Reid, the Master of the Game, in terms of manipulation of Senate Rules, chose not to make the Republicans actually filibuster, chose not to bring matters to the floor to call out Republicans on their anti-average-American attitudes, and chose not to repeal the filibuster. Senator Reid is owned lock, stock and barrel by the same corporate interests who own President Obama. Always has been, always will be. Plus he’s the #1 spear carrier in the Senate for the mining industry, aka companies allied with Cemex.
Adding to my comments yesterday, about President Obama being a puppet of the corporate elite, who are his principal donors: Just today, I saw a news story on TV about President Obama being a good buddy of the President of defense contractor Honeywell, and receiving $3.8 Million in campaign contributions for Honeywell PACs. Proving once again, that President Obama is the Charlatan in Chief.
I think maybe seeing a President would kind of be like the anticipation of going on a great vacation – when you finally get there the trip doesn’t quite live up to your expectations. But I’m with mikec – To be able to say “I saw the President of the United States in person!” That would be something to tell the grandkids someday. I don’t care whether you voted for him or not – a bit of history was yours for just a moment and that’s worth something!
My Grandpa Bill saw Lincoln’s funeral train, as it made its long slow journey to Illinois, and told us about it when we were kids. Now that’s a memory to tell my grandkids.
Your grandfather was alive in 1865?
Having met Ford and seen Nixon at a rally in 1968-Petz would go see Obama if given the opportunity-because he respects the office.
I saw WJC and Ford in person, circa 1996. I’d be honored to meet any of them, even Bush.
I saw Ford, Reagan, HW and W in person. No matter what the party, seeing any president in person is a monumental event.
My Republican Mom and I attended Carter’s inaugural parade on a day when the temperature was below zero, and the sidewalks were covered with slippery ice, to the extend that it was dangerous to walk from the subway to the parade route. Even my Mom was jazzed at being there “live”. We went to the Watergate for lunch afterwards, and watched the Inaugural fireworks from the window in my apartment. Probably one of the greatest memories of my Mom, putting partisanship aside.
Jimmy Carter was hosed, as an outsider, by Democrat Tip O’Neill as Speaker. However, President Carter won my heart one night, while I was all alone standing at the corner of Connecticut and K Street in the freezing cold, waiting for the bus. His Secret Service cordon rolled by, but President Carter rolled his window down and waved to me, mouthing the words “Try to stay warm”.
I put Presidents Carter and Eisenhower as the most honorable people holding the office in modern times. I just wish we could find someone like them to be a true representative of the people, and not a tool of corporate interests.
I am sure Jamie was entertaining. But as a human he is a piece of shit. His reputation around here is a no tipping, whore monger. Makes Tiger Woods look like a saint.
He’s the Rollie Fingers of Singer/Actor/Comedians.
W0uld you use that language around your mother?
My mother taught me that kind of language. “Ladies” involved in politics in the 1960′s to 1990′s had to use the same language men use in private converation, in order for the ladies to get any street cred while working in male-dominated legislatures, whether at the state or Federal level, or while working as women cops.